In your opinion, what is the best AR brand
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I find the argument saying piston guns run ''clean'' used by their manufacturers very misleading.
Actually only the KAC would have something over the Colt, since they have dumped some unecessary destructive testings that shortened the life of critical parts of the rifle, changed the design of some parts to prolong their life and add reliability, they have also been working directly with Eugene Stoner for a while developping their weapons.
Basically 90% of the Ar's in Canada can't compare to a basic Colt, since Colt owns the TDP for the M4 Carbine the DD's standard to which they build their rifles is the Colt. The only thing they have better is the CHF barrel. But then you have Colt Canada that makes excellent CHF barrels.
Every AR-15 produced today is built compared to a standard, and that standard is Colt. They OWN the standard. The only other company that makes a Colt standard gun, which basically cut absolutely no corners and have access to the TDP, is BCM. LMT also produces a Colt quality gun, and in some aspects and processes they make a better gun, and in others (that is up for debate, not a single LMT has had trouble with straight pins and unparkerized barrel under the FSB) a less better gun.
FN makes a Colt quality gun but they only produce for the U.S. Military, they are soon to come to the civilian world, but as part of their contract with Colt they will not be allowed to use the TDP or any knowledge they got from using the TDP to produce civilian AR's. We'll see how that turns out.
Then you have the companies that make a rifle that is of a higher standard and of higher quality than Colt, namely KAC, Noveske, HK, maybe LaRue but they told us to pound sand so they can pound sand too.
If someone thinks a piston AR is better than DI because "it runs cleaner", they basically just showed they know nothing about the AR-15 and I wouldn't consider anything they say.
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I have a BCM upper on my NEA -z lower, and the BCM is fabs. I guess it's not a popular brand up here, and they are relatively new. But they have reasonable prices and make good stuff.
Most of the other brands mentioned above are commonly recommended - in previous threads about this exact topic.
Most of the other brands mentioned above are commonly recommended - in previous threads about this exact topic.
As already mentioned KAC started with a clean sheet of paper and designed the E3 bolt to reduce "weak points" of the standard AR bolt
Though not readily apparent in next pic but the hole for the cam pin is much smaller area ( E3 on top )
E3 bolt on RHS
Engineering 101 tells us that sharp radius is not as desirable as larger . E3 bolt on LHS
Less stiff ( K Value ) of extractor spring since there are two of them . This is similar to LMT Enhanced bolt
Notice pivot point is also different.
For the nay sayers that the E3 is non standard , I would much rather have a superior designed bolt than worry about non standard. IF you are worried about that buy another bolt. Yes, the E3 is more expensive but for the number of rounds you would pound through before failure is the increased cost is irrelevant
You can also fire a KAC SR15 with standard bolt and carrier in a pinch
KAC SR15 Barrel
As far as Colt having anything over the KAC SR15 ....KAC sources the CHF from Colt Canada so to you can't say the Colt has a better barrel
KAC SR15 gas length
KAC uses their own length that is between Mid length and Rifle
It is not the same BTW as the "Intermediate Length" found on Noveske
Top is KAC , bottom is a Mid Length length both with 16" barrels
Though not readily apparent in next pic but the hole for the cam pin is much smaller area ( E3 on top )
E3 bolt on RHS
Engineering 101 tells us that sharp radius is not as desirable as larger . E3 bolt on LHS
Less stiff ( K Value ) of extractor spring since there are two of them . This is similar to LMT Enhanced bolt
Notice pivot point is also different.
For the nay sayers that the E3 is non standard , I would much rather have a superior designed bolt than worry about non standard. IF you are worried about that buy another bolt. Yes, the E3 is more expensive but for the number of rounds you would pound through before failure is the increased cost is irrelevant
You can also fire a KAC SR15 with standard bolt and carrier in a pinch
KAC SR15 Barrel
As far as Colt having anything over the KAC SR15 ....KAC sources the CHF from Colt Canada so to you can't say the Colt has a better barrel
KAC SR15 gas length
KAC uses their own length that is between Mid length and Rifle
It is not the same BTW as the "Intermediate Length" found on Noveske
Top is KAC , bottom is a Mid Length length both with 16" barrels
abbynormal
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Proprietary parts on the Knights is a drawback for me and frankly why I don't have one.
I have owned Noveske, Colt, and BCM. I think you could not go wrong with either.
Vote for Noveske as I love their SS barrels and the roll mark.
I have close to 4000 rounds threw my Noveske Afghan and not one stoppage that wasn't caused by a faulty mag.
I have owned Noveske, Colt, and BCM. I think you could not go wrong with either.
Vote for Noveske as I love their SS barrels and the roll mark.
I have close to 4000 rounds threw my Noveske Afghan and not one stoppage that wasn't caused by a faulty mag.
I think "best" is impossible to pin down because you get in to boutique makers like KAC and Noveske and Larue who make little alterations that may be (and probably are) improvements but which also limit the interchangeability of parts, which is one of the great strengths of the AR platform, and you're also stuck trying to analyze the relative strengths of similar and very subtle changes to a design which is extremely proven and tested on a level unlike any previous guns...but only in its basic configuration.
I look at it like this:
Boutique makers like KAC and Noveske are building very nice guns that are probably as good as anything you can buy. I find it hard to rank them against each other. They're very, very nice.
Colt, BCM, maybe Daniel Defense, these guys are building the best standard-format ARs. I shoot BCM mostly now.
Somewhere below that are the various Stag/M&P/Armalite builders that frankly have gotten so good that it's getting hard to make a bad choice. The Colt tier may be the home of the TDP gun and yes, there is an advantage to that, but most people will never shoot enough to know the difference anyway.
And grouping down at the bottom are a bunch of slap-it-together/this-is-good-enough-for-our-target-market builders that make guns you can't count on. Some of those guns get built with bad parts, some with bad assembly procedures, some with a weird mix of quality parts and junk. This is where I put Norinco stuff - weird mix of (IMO) surprisingly good barrels with totally unpredictable small parts and build procedures. You might get a good one and you might not. Some run really well, some don't. There's no QC. And that's pretty much what separates the good guns from the bad: how much does the company care about using the best parts and procedures?
That's why I shoot BCM: those guys CARE. Or, in the case of Colt, they feel a sense of obligation from building actual M4s (and it's the same parts anyway).
So BEST, I don't know. It's pretty easy to get the info to build good ARs these days though and most of the big names are pretty good. Colt and BCM are my go-to manufacturers but DD is probably just as good. The boutique guns are fancy as hell and I'd consider one myself if I needed anything I don't get from BCM...but I don't, and I'm not spending an extra $1500 for a 1% upgrade to a 99% perfect gun.
Hey, did anyone see where I put piston gun manufacturers on this little diatribe? Hmm, what a strange omission.
The only piston AR I'd even consider is the HK and they had enough issues with that system that they had to make the gun in to a boat anchor so it would work right...makes sense for a suppressed gun, makes no sense otherwise AFAIC. A quality DI gun is a better choice for 99% of users.
I look at it like this:
Boutique makers like KAC and Noveske are building very nice guns that are probably as good as anything you can buy. I find it hard to rank them against each other. They're very, very nice.
Colt, BCM, maybe Daniel Defense, these guys are building the best standard-format ARs. I shoot BCM mostly now.
Somewhere below that are the various Stag/M&P/Armalite builders that frankly have gotten so good that it's getting hard to make a bad choice. The Colt tier may be the home of the TDP gun and yes, there is an advantage to that, but most people will never shoot enough to know the difference anyway.
And grouping down at the bottom are a bunch of slap-it-together/this-is-good-enough-for-our-target-market builders that make guns you can't count on. Some of those guns get built with bad parts, some with bad assembly procedures, some with a weird mix of quality parts and junk. This is where I put Norinco stuff - weird mix of (IMO) surprisingly good barrels with totally unpredictable small parts and build procedures. You might get a good one and you might not. Some run really well, some don't. There's no QC. And that's pretty much what separates the good guns from the bad: how much does the company care about using the best parts and procedures?
That's why I shoot BCM: those guys CARE. Or, in the case of Colt, they feel a sense of obligation from building actual M4s (and it's the same parts anyway).
So BEST, I don't know. It's pretty easy to get the info to build good ARs these days though and most of the big names are pretty good. Colt and BCM are my go-to manufacturers but DD is probably just as good. The boutique guns are fancy as hell and I'd consider one myself if I needed anything I don't get from BCM...but I don't, and I'm not spending an extra $1500 for a 1% upgrade to a 99% perfect gun.
Hey, did anyone see where I put piston gun manufacturers on this little diatribe? Hmm, what a strange omission.
The only piston AR I'd even consider is the HK and they had enough issues with that system that they had to make the gun in to a boat anchor so it would work right...makes sense for a suppressed gun, makes no sense otherwise AFAIC. A quality DI gun is a better choice for 99% of users.
KAC just buys the barrel blanks from Colt Canada, nothing really cutting edge from Colt Canada anymore there hay day was when they were Diemaco...
KAC is most certainly the best Enhanced new gen of DI AR's out there in the world, that being said LMT ,DD,Colt Canada, Noveske are the best standard DI guns out there, save for a few other companies as well in there too!
HK, LMT for best piston guns...
KAC is most certainly the best Enhanced new gen of DI AR's out there in the world, that being said LMT ,DD,Colt Canada, Noveske are the best standard DI guns out there, save for a few other companies as well in there too!
HK, LMT for best piston guns...
I don't know art, but I know what I like. I am only an expert in what I have personally seen and done and only within a limited time frame at that. Two weeks ago I was on a rifle package for one week. There were only two guns that did not crash at any point…one was my G36C suppressed, the other was my KAC 11.5" CQB. Even the CC guns needed lunch time lube up … do I think I paid too much for my KAC? Not anymore.
I would certainly never trust a DPMS LPK, or anything DPMS for that matter. LOTS of bad things have happened/ is happening with them on the US side, especially their LPK's.
They're generally regarded as a bottom tier AR manufacturer by people who run AR's for a living. But with the kind of crap we've seen here from local companies we won't name, DPMS isn't all that bad considering the plethora of broken bolts and #### we've seen.
Daniel defense is a top tier manufacturer, nothing to do with DPMS. If you can afford both, DD ALL THE WAY!
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NORINCO AR guys...best bang for your$$$.
